Friendly Links and Family Ties
by Padfoot-001
Summary: After the Ori have been defeated Vala must a place for herself on earth, which means getting her own place. But when a gift from her father arives and causes more trouble then expected she must choose to deal with it on her own or let her friends help her
1. Chapter 1: Translations and Appartments

Authors Note: So first chapter, a little slow. This is supposed to be a humour fic as well as a nice Daniel/Vala piece, just the first few chapters will slowly get into it, set up the scene so you know where the storys at. First chapter so would love to know what you think so as to get some sense of direction or areas of improvement. As usual, apologise in advanced for any spelling era's, don't have spell check and am world's worst speller. I have been collection quotes for quite some time now, from Third rock from the sun in particular, so there will be a lot you may recognise from that.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own StarGate Sg-1 or its characters or anything else you recognise from the show. I do not own Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Scrubs, Gilmore Girls, Third Rock From The Sun, Dark Angel and any other TV shows that many of the quotes/lines/story concepts have been taken from.

**Friendly Links and Family Ties**

**Chapter One: Translations and Appartments.**

Daniel barely even batted an eye lid as he entered his office at the SGC, only to find that there was already someone in there. There was no greeting given, there was really no need for it. She was always there lately, he wasn't sure why. Maybe it was because she was so worried about being forgotten. With the threat of the Ori completly forgotten, after Earths' much earned victory over them at least three months ago, it seemed that the focus was not on her nearly as much as it used to be. In fact, the focus wasn't really on anything lately. It seemed that everything had finally settled down and there was a great sense of peace over everyone at the base. There was no more fighting, no more bad guys, well at least none worth worrying about, and there was hardly any gate travel.

With the Ori finally destroyed, the President thought it best to focus it's main funding on the Atlantis project. Not having any reason to argue, there wasn't much that General Landry could do about it. So gate travel was still allowed for exploration purposes only, advanced technologies, possible allies, learning about new cultures, it was back to how Daniel always liked it. Now he had more time to research, more time to explore. Of course there were more rules now, gate travel was limited to only a few odd trips during the week, but that left more time to get the work done in between.

But of course there was always that _something _that managed to distract him from his work. And that something just happened to be the very women that was sitting in the corner of his office today, the one day when he actually needed some quiet so he could get back to his translations.

He resisted the temptation to ask her to leave. She seemed to be absorbed in a book that was resting on her lap, so it was impossible for him to see the title. Nevertheless, he wasn't about to disturb her. She was quiet, that was good enough for him.

Sitting in his chair and placing the precious tablet, that he had been carrying under his arm, on the table, he took out pen and paperwork and began his translations.

... _FLIP ...FLIP ... FLIP ..._

Sighing loudly he looked up from his work and towards the figure in the corner. She was still uncharacteristically quiet, her eyes darting backwards and forwards over the words on the page in front of her, mouth hanging open in complete awe. He shook his head, willing himself to concentrate and went back to his tablet.

..._ FLIP ...FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFLIP ..._

He threw his pen down, took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes in frustration. Placing his glasses back on he looked over at her once again, secretly hoping that she would get the hint and go for a walk or something, leaving him alone in his office. Because it was, after all, _his_ office.

She smiled to herself as she read her book, mouthing the words, too softly for Daniel to hear them. He instinctivly leaned further over his desk, turning his head so that his ear was pointed in her direction. That book was enjoyable, he could see it in her eyes, he had to know what it was. Opening his mouth, just about to ask her, she almost seemed to sense what he was about to do and she started to read out loud ... _very_ fast.

"When beetles fight these battles in a bottle with their paddles and the bottles in a poodle and the poodles eating noodles ..." she paused for a second to catch her breath as she scanned over the next page "... they call this a muddle-puddle-tweddle-poodle-beetle-noodle-bottle-paddle-battle."

She inhaled loudly and closed the book so she could see the title and the author. Daniel didn't need to read the front to know it was 'Fox in Socks', by Dr. Seuss.

"My god Daniel," Vala finally said, acknowledging him for the first time since he entered the room. "This man is a genius!"

Daniel lowered his head and rubbed his temples slowly as Vala got up and slid the book across his table, untill it was directly under his line of vision.

"You should really read it sometime."

"Oh, I already have," he said, pushing it back towards her. "About 30 years ago."

He picked up his discarded pen and focused once again on his translations. It was a very big, very clear hint that he was done talking and wanted to work, but as usual Vala didn't get the hint.

"You know ... I found a mistake in one of your translations Daniel," she said, not liking that his attention was no longer on her.

Unable to help himself, Daniel once again forgot about his work and looked up at the women who was now leaning in over his desk, getting very close to him. "You did, did you?"

"Why yes I did. I'll even show you." Vala picked up her Dr. Seuss book and pulled out a few loose pages that were resting in the back. Daniel recognised them immediatly as the translation he was working on about four nights ago now. Over his writing in black, were some corrections done in pink highlghter. She handed him the papers as he just stared at them dumbstruck.

"How did you get these?" He had spent hours on these, only to have her scribble all over the top of it. He tried to control his temper. "They were in my desk."

"And I took them out," she said, matter of factly.

"My desk was locked."

"Which made it _very _difficult to open," she made her way around the desk so she was leaning in next to him. "You might want to make a note of that."

He closed his eyes trying to ignore her. Maybe if he ignored her she would go away, the paper would go away, everything would just ... go away.

She leaned in closer, pointing at the pink corrections she had made. "These are the correct -"

"YES!! I can see that!"

"Alright, just thought I'd help." She pushed herself away from the desk, picked up her book and left him alone in his office.

It took him a moment to calm himself and then he glanced over the paper. Of course her corrections were right, that was probably what killed him the most. Rolling his eyes he once again tried working. But it was no use, he wasn't focused any more. He leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling, deep in thought.

Vala and he still had their little disagreements here and there, but the truth was, they were a lot closer then what they had been before. They had been through a lot together and he hadn't forgotten, he was positive that she hadn't either. When the Ori had been destroyed, Adria, Vala's daughter was destroyed with them. In fact if it wasn't for Vala making a very difficult decission then Daniel wouldn't even be alive. It was he that destroyed her personal sheild, he that rendered her defensless, but she wasn't happy and was ready to kill him. She would have done it all too easily too, but Vala had destracted her long enough for Cameron to get in one simple shot that cut the Orisi's life very short.

Daniel was still grateful and he was there for Vala, but she was yet to talk about it. In fact she hadn't even mentioned Adria or that day or that moment to anyone and, for once in his life, Daniel wasn't sure whether he should be the one to try and talk to her or just let it go. So, three months had gone by and still he didn't bring it up. They still disagreed, they still had their moments, she still laughed, she still bugged everyone like only she could, Daniel wasn't sure if he should be happy she took the whole thing well or worried.

It was then that he suddenly remembered what he had to talk to Vala about. Not wanting to miss his chance, and feeling now was as good a time as any, he got up from his chair and quickly ran after her. She hadn't gotten very far, she was strolling along the corridor, very casually, as she made her way to her quarters.

"Vala, wait up," he called, coming to a stop as she turned around to meet him.

"Ah, noticed my corrections were accurate I see," she crossed her arms over her chest and put on her usual 'I was right and you were wrong' expression.

"Well, they were - somewhat correct, but that's beside the point. I forgot to tell you, I found a nice appartment for sale."

"... Oh!" was all that she said. Daniel smiled at her, this was supposed to be happy news. He knew that she was a little reluctant about moving, but everyone thought it was for the best.

Vala was an official member of SG-1, she had earned it fair and square. It was always easier if she stayed on the base because they travelled through the gate so often and it was just easier for her to adjust to Earth one step at a time. Now, however, she had been there for a good ten months and with the Ori gone and gate travel at a minimum, General Landry and the rest of SG-1 thought it would be nice for her to get her own place. Daniel had mentioned it to her a few days ago, thinking she would be excited to move out of the base and finally have a permanent place of her own, but she seemed to push the thought aside. But he had been looking for a nice place for her for days and it seemed like he had finally found the right place.

"Y-you know, Daniel, I was thinking, Teal'c has been here for far longer then me and well, he still stays on the base." She seemed to be averting his eyes, but barely noticing he continued to push.

"Yes, but Teal'c has family and friends through the gate, he's never really concidered Earth his real home. So it never really mattered if he had his own place or not. You should be happy Vala, you'll be out of this stinkin' place and have somewhere nice to go home to every day."

She smiled at him, but it wasn't really her usual genuine smile. "Well ... I dunno, I mean, I have people off-world too and -"

"You can still go off-world Vala, I just figured ... you know, it would be nice if - you actually had somewhere to live ... somewhere permanent." Daniel chose his words carefully, he didn't want to start blabbing on about how she had nothing but a life of crime out there and so didn't really need to go off-world. He could see her thinking it over and so he decided to tell her more about the appartment.

"It's got a big bathroom ... lots of wardrobe space ... " he paused, tossing up whether to tell her the last part. "It's about two blocks away from my appartment."

She smiled. Another fake smile, but he could see she was beginning to see reason.

"Alright Daniel," she said, sighing softly. "When can I look at it."

"Good, I was hoping you'd say that. Well I organised for you to have a look tomorrow afternoon. I figured I'd go with you, just because I'm not sure if you'd know what to look for." She smiled again but didn't say much else, she simply turned around and began walking back towards her room.

There was really no reason why she wouldn't want her own place. The SGC was no place to live, alarms going off through the night, tiny living areas. He knew she didn't seem too keen on the idea just yet, but he knew she would, he was sure of it.

** end chap 1**

**AU: **Hopefully another chapter up soon, depending on real life stuff, such a drag lol. Please let me know what you think.


	2. Chapter 2: Home is where the heart is

Authors Note: Well, this one is a little more exciting then the last one. Little more shippy for this one. But still only a light chapter. Just trying to set up the story, and now it's preety well set so I can finally start the more in-depth stuff, hurrah. New chapter should be up tomorrow, if all goes to plan.

Thanks also to all who reviewed:

**HAZMOT: **I have no idea why you're envious, you are a fantastic writer, your Vala/Dan stories have kept me sane whilst waiting for good episodes. Thanks for the kind review, and yes very much friends first, the good stuff comes later, he he.

**Sorrel Rowen: **Hey Kales glad you liked it and yeah, sorry for slow chapters, but I gotta set the scene and the first ones always tend to be short because even I have to get the feal of the story.

**poundpuppy29: **good to see you at fanfiction, you should write some fics, I'm sure you'd have some great stories to tell. :)

Thanks also to, **TurnerH, Sokorra Lewis, BkWurm1, QuasiOuster, sd** and **the RaBBit **for the reviews.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own StarGate Sg-1 or its characters or anything else you recognise from the show. I do not own Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Scrubs, Gilmore Girls, Third Rock From The Sun, Dark Angel and any other TV shows that many of the quotes/lines/story concepts have been taken from.

**Friendly Links and Family Ties**

**Chapter Two: Home is where the heart is.**

Daniel grabbed Vala's arm as the agent finally left them to look around the appartment on their own.

"So? What do you think?" he asked enthusiastically. Vala couldn't help but notice that he seemed far more excited about the appartment then she did.

"It's big ... and I can't believe I'm saying this, but perhaps TO big. I mean, I don't even own enough stuff to fill even a fraction of this place Daniel!"

He shook his head and waved a hand at the room. "But that's the beauty of it. You can spend a life-time buying and collecting things to fill it all up. You like shopping, you can go shopping for things."

Forcing a smile she tired to sound as happy as he was. "You're right Daniel, I do _love _shopping."

She sighed loudly and took another long look around the living room that they were currently in. It was a nice place, Daniel had picked it well and she was greatful for that, but ever since Quetesh had taken her as host, she had never lived in the one place for a long period of time before. She had been running for so long, moving from place to place that she wasn't sure she was ready to settle down and have just one place. One permanent place that would be home.

"It's far from the SGC. How would I get to work everyday?" she asked, subtly trying to find reasons why the place wasn't exactally right for her. The truth was she was quiet happy staying at the SGC. Even if gate travel was at an all time minimum there was still the excitement, the knowledge that at any second something new and exciting could come through the gate and send her on another wild adventure.

"Well, you'll have to get your drivers licence eventually. But we can sort that out later on, for now we just need to get you settled and to do _that _we need to find you a place."

Vala couldn't help but feel a little more uplifted. When Vala had told her she should look for a place he had helped the whole way, now he was saying "WE" in everything he said, and she had to admit it made her feel relieved. At first she was scared that she would have to do all of this on her own, not knowing much about earth, the thought actually scared her. But that had never been Daniel's intention, he made it feel like this whole thing wasn't a way to get rid of her, but something that was best for her. She was foolish to ever think that he would leave her in the dark like that.

She gave the room another once over. He was so excited, so happy about this place, she would give it a chance for him. But this would be it, this would be her life. No more stealing, no more high speed chases through space, no new planets to explore at her own leisure, no more moving around. She would be here, one place, for what could very well be the rest of her life.

Daniel looked on as she re-checked the room with that reassuring smile. Sometimes she thought he seemed completly oblivious to what she was clearly thinking. He seemed to think that by staying positive, pointing out the good in everything, would actually make it easier for her. But it didn't. She wished she could tell him how she _really _felt, how she felt about everything these past few months, especially after the outcome of the final Ori battle. But she couldn't, she couldn't find the words and she didn't want her friends to know she was stuggling.

At least she could do this for him, it wasn't the worst place she could spend the rest of her life, at least it had a nice view of the lake. And she would still have the SGC if things didn't turn out.

"OKay Daniel, I'll take it," she said, forcing yet another smile. He beemed at her, making her feel like it was almost worth it.

"Y-you will?" he stuttered, clearly not expecting that response at all.

She thought about it again before she answered for a second time. "Yes, you're right, it is a nice place. And you live close enough, so if I ever get lonely or need someone to annoy, it's only a walk away." Smiling cheekily she waited for him to come up with some snappy reply, but it never came.

"Excellent, great. You're making the right choice Vala. And, you can come round anytime. Provided I'm home of course." He patted her on the shoulder happily as he called the agent back in the room and begun filling in paper work. Technically she should have been tho one to fill it out, but seeming as though she wasn't exactally from Earth and was still trying to get the whole spelling, writing thing down-pat, it would look a bit suspicious.

She was glad Daniel was happy, she would give this a chance. After all, she had to move on, as hard and as painful as that could sometimes be.

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It only took Vala a few hours to move all of her things from the small room at the SGC to her brand new appartment. Sam and Teal'c had helped her move everything in because Daniel and Cam had to go off-world. General Landry had given her that day and the next day to get settled in. When Sam and Teal'c had left it was just her, her empty apartment and her boxes.

The first day was spent unpacking everything. All of her things barely filled up the bedroom. If it wasn't for the old TV and DVD player that Cam had surprised her with she probably would have died of bordom. On her second day, she had wished that she could have gone back to work. The novalty had worn off and she was beginning to miss not having her friends around her 24/7.

There was no food in the fridge (she wasn't sure what kinds of foods to buy as it had always just been there at base), the hot and cold shower taps were different so she couldn't get them working and the TV didn't have any signal whatsoever. By 8pm she decided to go to sleep and by 3am she was up again.

She had been having troubles sleeping for a while now and she hated it. The nightmares were getting worse and she hated it. They were always about the same thing, Adria. No matter what she did she could not forget the look on her daughters face in her final hours, and no matter what she would never, could never, forgive herself for letting that happen, for playing apart in her daughters death.

Flipping off the covers and getting out of bed she pushed on her white slippers and made her way to the living room. Apart from the TV a simple bean bag chair occupied this room. She loved bean bags, it always amazed her how someone actually came up with the idea of putting beans in a bag and then making it into something you sit on. This room wasn't where she wanted to be. Suddenly feeling very alone and very miserable she grabbed her pillow, quickly put her dressing gown around her and left her appartment.

She hoped he was back from Off-world, if not she would simply sleep outside his door, anything would be better then going back to her empty place. There was hardly a car on the road, but she didn't care, even if she was sporting a small singlet top and tiny shorts under her gown.

It was a good thing she had checked out where he lived and memorised the route, otherwise she may never have found it. She entered the quiet building and made her way up to his floor, then down the corridor and finally to his door.

She knocked loudly. There was no reply.

She knocked again, more insistant this time. Still no reply.

So she knocked again and this time she didn't stop untill the door suddenly flung open and a very confused, shirtless Daniel was standing in the doorframe.

"W-was goin on?" he stuttered groggily as he tried to take in what he was seeing.

Vala didn't wait for an invitation, she simply walked past him and into his appartment. "I couldn't sleep" she said, turning around to face him. "My place is too quiet and there's an insect or something hooting out my window and there's a leak maybe and ... well, I was lonely."

Daniel closed the door, still looking as though he had no idea what was going on. "... Vala?"

"Yes Daniel, wakey, wakey ... it's me!" she waved a hand in front of his face and he grabbed it wearily.

Inspecting it he suddenly came to terms with what was going on. "Vala? It's late ... what are you doing here." 

He walked towards the microwave to get a closer look at the time. "Couldn't sleep," she reminded him.

Suddenly realising what time it was and the words slowly sinking in he spun around to look at her again. "Vala! It's 3AM"

"Well, you said I could come around whenever I wanted."

"3AM wasn't exactally what I had in mind."

"Well you should say what you mean then, because you weren't very clear."

Rubbing his eyes sleepily he seemed to be thinking everything over very slowly.

"Well?" she asked, unsure of what to do. "Can I stay?"

"Yes, fine, so long as you sleep. Cause I'm going to sleep." He shuffled his feet into the other room and came out with sheets and blankets. Seemingly on autopilot he dropped them on the lounge, said goodnight and went into his room, shutting the door dreamily behind him.

Vala made up a bed on the lounge and got comfortable. She had to admit, this was much better, the place was full, there was someone just in the other room if she needed anything and there were no insects. She smiled happily and driffted into a dreamless sleep.

**end chap 2**

AN: Next chapter, the team go off-world and meet some of Vala's old friends who get the better of her and she finds herself in a rather embarrasing situation.


	3. Chapter 3: Earth's lifestyle vs Vala's

Authors Note: So finally a longer chapter. Thanks to all who keep reviewing, your the reason I'm trying to update as quickly as possible. Hopefully this one is a little more fun, and we finally get into the good stuff, he he he. All the stuff I said was going to be in this chapter at the end of the last one isn't, its now in the next one, but this ones still good. Oh and 60's scene from 3rd rock from the sun, hence the disclaimer. So please remember that, not all little side stories and funny moments are mine. Some are, but some arn't and yeah, he he. Please enjoy and as always love to know what you think because I write this for you. :)

**Disclaimer: **I do not own StarGate Sg-1 or its characters or anything else you recognise from the show. I do not own Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Scrubs, Gilmore Girls, Third Rock From The Sun, Dark Angel and any other TV shows that many of the quotes/lines/story concepts have been taken from.

**Friendly Links and Family Ties**

**Chapter Three: Earth's lifestyle vs. Vala's**

The alarm rang loudly in his ears as he jolted awake. Automatically he flung off the covers and proceded to put a shirt on. Once this was done, as it was done every morning, he made his way to the bathroom and washed his face in a futile attempt to wake himself up.

Wearily he walked out of his room and headed for the kitchen, with only one thing in mind. Coffee.

"Gooooooooooood morning, Daniel," an overly cheery voice sung out as he finally reached the kitchen. He looked over to the lounge where a wide-awake Vala was perched on the edge of his lounge watching cartoons. He was so out of it when she had knocked on his door that he seriously thought he had been dreaming. But apparently not.

"You eaten?" was all he asked, not one for being able to form complete sentences this early in the morning.

"Yep," she said, pointing towards her empty cereal bowl that was placed carelessly on his expensive coffee table. "Captin' Crunch, I think I'm beginning to like this earth food more and more."

He shook his head as he poured his first, and much needed, cup of coffee. "You back at work today?" he asked as he went to join her on the lounge.

"Yes. I'm not sure, but I think Sam was going to come and pick me up." He changed the channel to the morning news, ignoring her angry glare as he did so.

"Well I can take you if you want seeming as though you're already here," he handed Vala the phone. "Just call Sam and tell her not to worry."

Vala looked at the phone a little puzzled. "Um ... Daniel ..."

"Huh? Oh right," he said, taking the phone back off her. "I'll do it then."

It didn't take him long to call Sam up and tell her not to worry about Vala. "So she's at your place now?" Sam had asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, she's been here all night." Still a little sleepy he wasn't quite aware of the number of ways that, that simple sentence could be taken.

"Really?" Sam had said a little too brightly. Daniel suddenly realised what he had said.

"Um, what? No, I didn't mean, she couldn't sleep and she came over and well sort of just invited herself in. You know how she is and -"

"Rrrrrrright," Sam said, and although he couldn't see her Daniel could just tell that she would have that same knowing look on her face that she always did.

"We'll just see you at work," he said and hung-up the phone. Vala was smirking when he sat back down on the lounge and he turned the television off in annoyance.

"We're leaving in 15, you better get ready." He got up to leave the room but Vala stopped him.

"Ah, Daniel. I don't have my clothes with me. When I came here last night, I didn't bring anything." She gestured to the lounge she had slept on to show that she had nothing but her dressing gown and her pillow. "I can go home and get changed and meet you back here."

He looked her up and down taking in her singlet top and small bed shorts. "You came over here last night dressed like that?"

Vala looked down at what she was wearing. "What? Do these colours not go together? I made sure I wasn't wearing blue and green together, but I thought pink and blue were alright."

Once again Daniel shook his head in frustration that she didn't understand. "Don't worry! Just stay put and we'll swing by yours before we set off."

She nodded and as he walked away he could hear her switch the TV back on to her toons.

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They got there, 15 minutes late. After leaving the car and promising that she would only be 10 minutes, Daniel was left waiting for half an hour before she finally got back in again. He didn't bother asking her what she was doing for so long or yell at her for saying she'd only be 10 minutes and taking longer, there was really no point. It would just go in one ear and out the other.

"You too are late," Sam said to them as they arrived, a huge grin on her face.

"Yes, very funny Sam," Daniel snapped back.

"You're late Jackson," Cameron said to him. He didn't bother pointing out to the Colonel that Vala was late as well, she was always late, in fact if she wan't late then something would probably be said out of concern for her mental state and health. But as this wasn't out of the usual he didn't bother. "We've got a mission," he added happily.

"Oh goodie," Vala cheered, taking her seat in the briefing room. "What do we need? A cargo ship, some advanced weaponry, a man eating serpent?" Daniel looked at her. "What? I know someone who breeds them ..." she lowered her voice and added, "illegally!"

"No Vala, we wont be needing any of that." General Landry entered the room and chuckled lightly at Vala's suggestions. "You simply have a routine visit to a planet called, P3X-082. That's all. No impending danger ... and I don't want there to be either."

"Yes sir," Cameron said with a warning glance at Vala.

"We had an incoming wormhole from the planet in question this morning. There was no attempt to contact us and there were certainly no signs that anyone had made contact with the closed iris. We're not sure why this happened but what better opportunity then for you 4 to check it out."

"Teal'c wont be joining us?" Cameron asked, a little disappointed.

"No Colonel, he still has a lot of work he wants to get done back home."

As they all began discussing the usual procedures for visiting new planets, Daniel secretly hoped that this planet would have something interesting. They had travelled to many new worlds lately, so far coming up with nothing ever remotely exciting. It's not that it was becoming boring, but Daniel just wished that he could find something new, something that would keep his mind busy for at least a few months.

"All right SG-1, you have a go. Suit up and head out when you're ready," General Landry finnished as he got up and left the briefing room.

"Well ... sounds boring," Vala said with a sigh.

Sam stopped herself from nodding in agreement as Cameron gave them final instructions. "Alright team, we leave in two hours. Everyone be ready to leave ... on time if possible." He gave a warning look at Daniel who didn't even bother to argue, he simply gave one last look at Vala before storming out of the room to do some translations before they left.

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After an hour of attempting to translate the same line over and over, Daniel decided that he needed to take a break. He headed towards the mess room, with his coffee mug swinging eagerly between his fingers. As he passed Sam's office, he had to do a double take. There was certainly no Sam in there, but there was Vala and she had a box, a rather large looking box and she was looking at it as though it contained the meaning of life. She was absolutly fascinated.

"Vala? What are you ...?" he was about to ask her what she was looking at but his question suddenly changed when he saw what she had on. "What are you _wearing_?"

Vala had on an old necklace with the famous 60's symbol for peace on the end and she was wearing rounded, rose-coloured glasses.

"Teal'c gave them to me a while back. Said that if I was going to stay on Earth I had better start learning about your culture and he said the best place to start is the 60's. So I just thought, seeming as though I had some free time I would put them on and see what all the fuss was about.

Daniel opened his mouth to say something, anything, but he couldn't think of anything to say just yet and so he closed it again. She shrugged her shoulders at him with a confused expression on her face. He looked back down at the box she was looking through and noticed it said 'X-Mas' on it. A little confused he decided asking her about it couldn't hurt.

"So what's with the box?"

"Oh that!" Vala said, rather excitedly. "Teal'c said he found it a while back in Jack O'Neill's car garage and that it might help in my research of that era. It says ex mass," she announced, reading the side of the box. "Although, I'm not too sure what that means. But these ..." Vala stuck her hand inside the box and pulled out what Daniel recognised as Christmas lights. "These certainly look, er - 'psychedelic', if that's how you say it."

Not sure whether to laugh or try and explain the whole concept to her Daniel simply decided not to say anything just yet.

"You see Daniel, look at all the colours ... my mind is blown." Grinning happily at her reference to the 60's, Vala followed the cord of coloured bulbs to the plug at the bottom. She then proceeded to look around Sam's office for somewhere to plug it in.

"Um, Vala ... you do realise they're Christmas lights right?" Daniel told her as she finally found a power point.

"Wooooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwww!" was all she could say as she plugged the lights in and watched them light up in all different colours. After being in for a few seconds they all began to flash and Vala looked positively astonished. "You know Daniel, I think I like the 60's."

At that moment Sam joined them, with a fresh cup of coffee in her hand, the smell drove Daniel crazy.

" ... What in the world?" Sam said as she stopped dead at the door to her office. For someone that had not heard why Vala was doing all of these strange things, the site must have looked preety weird.

"You see Daniel ... she's 'spacing out' ... she's 'melow' ... she's 'on cloud 9'," Vala explained, waving the flashing lights around.

Before he had a seizure, Daniel walked over to the power point and unplugged the lights. "How about I show you what these are _really _used for another day," he said and she happily agreed. He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder all the while thinking that if anyone, who didn't know she was an Alien, saw her behaving like she had just now they would have thought she was a mental patient.

As he passed the still very confused Sam he said, "she's trying to learn about the 60's."

Walking out the door and down the corridor he just heard Sam say an "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" in understanding.

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By the time the gate had been dialed up and SG-1 was ready to head off they were all itching to get through the gate. It was at that stage now where they didn't even care what adventure, or lack-thereof, was on the other side, just so long as they could go through.

"SG-1, you have a go," General Landry called from the control room.

"Finally," Daniel heard Sam say as he stepped through the gate.

Stepping out on the other side Daniel was quite taken a back when suddenly he was welcomed by an old lady waving a fur coat around.

"Welcome, welcome, strangely dressed travellers. You buy some fur. I do good price for you because this is your first time. Good price, no cheating you."

"No thanks, we're not here to shop," Cameron said as he pulled Vala away from the women who was now smiling and they could all see that she had several teeth missing.

Daniel was stunned. They had arrived in a giant market place. No sooner had they stepped through the gate when a man dressed all in black had pushed them to the side.

"Careful there, incoming travellers." Sure enough the gate activated again and a group of 5 very chatty women with big purses and wearing what appeared to be the old womens' fur coats, stepped through the gate.

"What is this place?" Sam asked.

"A thieves paradise," Vala said, making them all turn to look at her.

"Explain," Cameron said.

"Well, they have a StarGate and clearly a well known address, people from more advanced planets gate on through and go crazy buying a whole heap of junk that they don't need. It's that simple."

"Then how is it a thieves paradise?"

"They steal something, they bring it here, put some rediculous price on it and watch as the offers come in. Most of the time it's a completly useless item that they obtained from less then 10 minutes work and people will still pay for it."

"Have you ever been here before?" Daniel asked, hoping that they could have some intel on this place.

"No, actually, I haven't. Shame I didn't know it was here before, I could have made some great sales," Vala said as she took in a rather dumb looking women who was buying every item the dealer showed her, simply because he was saying, "one of a kind ... very rare."

It was a truely amazing place. There was a giant space fenced off so that people wouldn't get vaporised by the Kawoosh of the StarGate, but after that, there was simply stalls, as far as the eye could see. Everyone seemed to be dressed in leather or raw hide, just like Daniel and Cameron had been forced to do back when they had been trying to sever the link between himself and Vala.

"Well, we've still got a while before we have to report back to base, may as well take a look around," Cam announced. Vala gave him a huge smile, she was clearly eager to search for something of Vala, or perhaps she was going to give them the slip, by some cheap items, sell them for double what she paid and pocket the difference. That seemed to be more what she would do.

Daniel could tell that Sam was relieved of Camerons descision too. After all, it meant they could stay off-world for a little longer. If they went back now, who knew how long it would be till they got the chance to travel again.

"This stuff is all worthless," Daniel said as he observed some of the near-by stores.

"I wouldn't say it's _all_ worthless, Daniel," Sam said, stopping him and pointing towards a far off store.

Daniel followed her over to the store and saw what had caught her eye almost immediatly. A ZPM. Seemed strange how their better halves over in Atlantis would kill for one of these and here was some low-life selling one for a quick buck.

"For the 4 of you, special price ... 25 quakes," the store owner offered from underneath his hood. The hood was so low that you couldn't even see his face.

"Ha! 25 quakes?" Vala shouted out in suprise. "I'd hate to think what price you had on it before you came up with the special."

"Vala," Cameron said, taking her aside. "Do you have any of these quakes?"

"Not anymore, I may have a few back with my old things, but not as much as he's asking." She glared angrily at the hooded man as though disgusted that he could even ask for such an amount. "What do you want it for anyway?"

"The guys back on Atlantis could really use it, and its not every day we come across one."

"Maybe we can offer him something else," Daniel suggested and he made to try and make a fair trade with the hooded stall owner.

"Ummmm, what about ... this radio? Or my watch? It's a good watch," Daniel tried, but not having much to offer made it a little hard.

"I wouldn't bother Daniel," Vala said as she placed the ZPM back on the stand. She had clearly been thouroughly inspecting it. "It's fake!"

The man muttered his appologies as the group continued to move along the shops.

"How'd you know it was a fake?" Cameron asked. "Sold a few yourself?"

"Maybe ... besides, if you want to survive out here, in space, then you have to be smart and know about these sorts of things. Half the stuff here is fake, that lady's jacket," she continued, pointing at a rathed posh looking women a few stores in front. "That isn't real leather she's wearing."

They stopped to look at a strange three headed bird, perched on the only leg that the unfortunate creature had. Vala was trying to explain to them all what it did and why it was such a valued creature.

It was amazing how one minute she was competly and utterly confused about something so simple as Christmas lights back on Earth and yet here ... here she knew everything. Daniel suddenly felt a little guilty, he wasn't sure if he completly understood just how hard it must have been for her to adjust to all these changes.

"Hold it right there you lot," a deep voice boomed out from behind them. "Put your hands on your head and turn around ... _very_ - slowly!"

Daniel, Cameron, Sam and Vala did what they were told, not wanting to cause any trouble. As they turned around they noticed that the voice belonged to the hooded man back at the stall with the fake ZPM now, however he had a weapon, similar to the one Vala used to carry, pointed right at them. His hood wasn't on anymore, it was lowered and they could all see that it was a rather rough looking man underneath. He had a tatoo on the left side of his face of a strange looking sword, peircing a coin and very cold looking eyes.

"Bevan, grab their weapons," the tatooed man ordered. It was amazing how everyone around them carried on with their shopping as though nothing was going on. Out of the crowd to their right came a younger, much less threatening looking man with short brown hair that stuck up as though he had just been electrocuted. He made his way around the group, taking special care to get all of their weapons, even the hidden ones.

"Friends or yours Vala?" Daniel asked, noticing that the two men seemed to be more focused on Vala then anyone else.

"Why do you always assume that anyone with better clothes then those ones you wear on earth are friends of mine?" Sam seemed about to object to the "wearing better clothes" comment but thought better of it.

"Look, if we upset you, we'll leave ... no harm done," Cameron said, trying to talk the men down.

"Shut up," the tatooed man said bluntly as he pushed his gun forward to reinforce that he was in control.

As they stood there facing the two thugs a third voice rung out behind them. This voice was different, more educated, more calm. "Well, well, well. Vala Mal Doran ... so we meet again."

Vala spun around to face the newcomer, Daniel, Sam and Cameron did the same.

"Alright Daniel," Vala said, turning very pale, "you were right, although I wouldn't exactally call them friends!"

** end chap 3**

**AN:** So I had to seperate the 2 chapters because it would have been too long otherwise. So next chappy we find out who this new guy is and presents, sheets and leather coming up next. He he.


	4. Chapter 4: ZPM's and Bed Sheets

Authors Note: At first I wasn't sure about this chapter, it was going to be a little different, but hey, it worked, it sets the story right. And so I left it, even if it was a little risky. Just implied sex, but nothing that should make the rating go too far up. Hope you enjoy, sorry it took a little while, busy weekend. Happy Chinese New Year for the other day everyone. And sorry if the next chapter takes a little bit, I have to update my other stories and have to go to classes for next few days. AHHH! But it will be worth it, its going to be my fav chapter to write.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own StarGate Sg-1 or its characters or anything else you recognise from the show. I do not own Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Scrubs, Gilmore Girls, Third Rock From The Sun, Dark Angel and any other TV shows that many of the quotes/lines/story concepts have been taken from.

**Friendly Links and Family Ties**

**Chapter Four: ZPM's and Bed Sheets.**

Vala looked at the man now standing in front of her. Time had been good to him, she was unhappy to see, he was as stunning as he had ever been.

"You know these men, Vala?" Daniel whispered into her ear.

"That one I know, his names Axel," she said, gesturing towards the newcomer who had spoken her name. "The other's I don't think I've ever seen before."

"Well then where are my manners?" Axel jumped in, obviously over-hearing their conversation, despite their barely audiable voices. "This here is Snap," he gestured towards the tall, solid man with the tatoo. "And this is his apprentice, Bevan."

"Snap?" Cameron interupted, looking very amused. "That your real name, big fella?"

Snap seemed ready to open fire on Cameron after his smart comment, but Axel walked towards the larger man and ordered him to put his weapon away. After much hesitation Snap did as he was told. It was clear that Axel was still as much in control as he ever was.

"He's called Snap, because he's well known for being able to snap people's necks. One handed." Cameron stopped smiling as Axel did so. Vala had no reason to suspect it was a lie either, Snap looked quite capable of breaking anybody's neck, or arm, or leg for that matter. "You're looking well, Vala."

Vala's eyes locked back onto Axel's as he walked towards her smiling. His dark brown hair was well cared for as she remembered, and his dark eyes were as mysterious and unreadable as they ever were. He looked slightly more buff then how she remembered him, probably all his time spent out there in the big bad universe. As usual though he seemed his old arrogant, yet smooth talking self.

Not being able to find any words just now, Vala simply nodded in agreement. She was desperatly hoping that someone wasn't going to turn around and begin questioning her on who this guy was and how they knew each other. It was a story she didn't particuarly want to tell at the moment. But no one else said anything.

"It's been a very long time, Vala. I want to know where you've been and what you've been up to. Why don't you and your friends follow us back to our camp, we will have some time to talk there." Axel smiled kindly at them all, not just her, all of them. He was clearly up to something. She just couldn't tell what that something was just yet.

"Just a second ago your little - er - well your friends wanted to kill us," Daniel said, clearly not liking this idea at all. Vala pointed at him to reinforce that he had a good point.

To their surprise, Axel just laughed. "Oh they never wanted to kill you. I recognised Vala the moment I saw her step through the gate. We like to keep an eye on all travellers, just to pick the out the big spenders from the small fry. When I saw her, I set up Snap to make sure it was really her, when he told me how quickly she picked the ZPM was a fake I knew it was her. So I sent them to stop you, in fact I never actually ordered you to use your gun," Axel recalled, looking at Snap suspiciously, who looked rather guilty.

"Right," Cameron said, very sarcastically.

"So what do you say Vala, a catch up, for old times sake?" Vala looked around at Cameron who was looking between Sam and Daniel as though trying to read what they thought. They all seemed a little unsure.

"We may have to pass up on the offer," Cameron decided, trying to sound as polite as possible. "You see, we only came here to do some trading, and we have to be back soon."

"Well, all the more reason for you to come back to our camp then," Axel said, as though the matter were closed. "I have a whole batch of really interesting devices. Even, the real ZPM."

It didn't seem like he was bluffing, but that was Axels greatest trick, you could never read him. "Oh, and Vala. I almost forgot. I have a gift for you."

"For me?" she said, looking rather puzzled as to what he could possibly have for her after all these years.

"Yes. It's a gift from your father."

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Promising that they would only stay at Axel's camp a short while, Vala and the team had followed the men away from the market area and towards a neat row of very luxurious looking tents. Right in the middle sat Axels', Snaps' and Bevans' tents. There was an open fire going out the front and benches for sitting on. Bevan and Snap sat on one bench, staring at the team as though wishing they could push them into the fire. Vala, Cameron, Sam and Daniel sat on another, whilst Axel went to collect all the devices and the ZPM that he had promised them.

Vala knew that Daniel would take this short opportunity to interogate her and get some much needed answers. And he did.

"So?"

"So, what?" Vala asked, playing dumb to prevent answering questions just that little bit longer.

"Who was that guy and how do you know each other?"

Sam and Cameron leaned forward, clearly very interested.

"He was an old, colegue of mine," she told them. So it wasn't exactally true, but it was better to lie for now.

"Ah-ha," Sam said disbelievingly.

"Well, for an old colegue he certainly seems interested in you," Cameron said, emphasising Sam's point that they knew her to well to know that she was lying.

"HA! Who isn't?" she said with a grin. Daniel didn't seem very amused with her. "Look, we just used to work together, and he knew my father quite well, that's it. I'm just going to catch up, see what he's been up to. Who knows, maybe I'll get some valuable information from him," she added, lowering her voice.

"Oh yeah, like what? Like where the best place to sell a stolen cargo ship is?" Daniel clearly wasn't very happy with what they were doing.

"Don't be silly Daniel, everyone know's where the best place is to sell a stolen cargo ship. But arn't you more interested in where he found that ZPM? Might lead us to more." Vala looked hopeful at them all, but noone got a chance to say anything more as Axel emerged from his tent carrying three boxes, one on top of the other. They looked very heavy and rattled with the many contents inside.

"Here you are, hope you like weapons. I've got some really good ones in here," he tapped the top of the last box that was placed on the floor in front of them. Cameron lifted the lid off eagerly. "There are some old books I found a while ago, that I've been told hold some great value," Daniel immediatly perked up at this. "And, today's your lucky day. I found this," he held up a ZPM, "and this," he held up a second ZPM. Sam grabbed them as quickly as she could, inspecting them carefully hoping that they were real.

"Wow, check this out!" Cameron was playing with a small weapon that shot out an invisible energy wave of some kind, knocking Bevan right off his bench.

Axel laughed at his enthusiasm, then turned to Vala. "So Vala, how about you and I step into my tent. We have a lot of catching up to do."

Daniel looked up from his books and straight at Vala. She smiled at him, letting him know that there was nothing to worry about. Then she nodded at Axel and followed him to his tent.

The inside of the tent was very simple, just an ordinary bed in one corner, a poker table and chairs in another and an old, open bag on the floor filled with weapons and jewelry. On his bed lay a small, black box.

"Ahhh, I see you've already found the gift your father left for you. You never did miss anything," Axel said fondly as he noticed where her attention was drawn.

"How did you get this?" she asked, walking towards the box.

"I've seen a fair bit of your father lately, you know, he's always around. When he saw me last he asked me to give you this if I ever saw you." Vala picked up the box but didn't open it, Axel took it from her hands and she noticed how very close he was to her.

She took a few steps back and away from him. "How did he know that you would even see me again? I mean it's been, a long time."

"Yes it has, and despite what you think, I have missed you." He avoided the question, but she let it go for now.

"I bet you have ... well, I can't say the same for you but -"

Before Vala had the chance to finnish, Axel had closed the gap between them and pulled her into a passionate kiss. It was so familiar, it reminded her of an easier time, when things made sense, when there were hardly any worries and she could have anything and everything she wanted, and suddenly she found that she didn't want to let go. Little black box all forgotten, she wrapped her arms around his neck and joined in with the kiss.

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How could she have been so stupid? She never let men get the better of her, ever. It was always her getting the better of them. But with Axel, it had always been different. He had always managed to get the upper hand, sometimes without her even realising it.

Pulling roughly at the cold, harsh metal around her wrist she began to feel the tears burning at her eyes. This only made her more frustrated. Her team mates, her friends, were right outside, she didn't want them to see her like this. She didn't want them to see that she had been beaten at her own game.

After kissing Axel, one thing had led to another and well, before she knew it her clothes were on the floor and they were in his very uncomfortable bed. Next thing she had felt him put something on her wrist. At first she thought he had cuffed her, but that was before she realised what it was. In her moment of stupidity she had let her guard down and Axel had opened the box that her father had given her. Inside was a braclet, laying flat out, similar to the one she had used on Daniel. Only there was only one, and Axel had strapped it on her. She had no idea what it was, or what id did, but it gave her a very uneasy feeling.

Next thing she was knocked out and when she woke up, she was under his sheets, alone. Perhaps the worst part was, the scoundrel had ran off with her clothes. So she was stuck, in nothing at all, under his sheets. For once, she wasn't quite sure what she should do. The braclet felt like it was getting tighter and tighter and she just wanted it off!

This wasn't the first time Axel had done this to her. When they knew each other long ago, he thought it was funny to run off with her clothes, or her shoes, when she took them off to dip her feet in the water. But this time it wasn't funny.

She scratched at the braclet again as a stray tear ran down her cheak and she sniffed quietly.

"Um, Vala? Axel? You still in there?" Vala stopped playing with the braclet immediatly, and swipped the tear away. Of all the people to come check up on her, why did it have to be Daniel. Maybe she could tell him to go away and get Sam to help her.

"Vala?" Daniel asked again, a little more anxious this time when he didn't get a response. She rolled her eyes as she made her descision and got up from the bed. She made her way to the tent enterance where she could see Daniel's shadow. Making sure the sheet was fully covering her, she pulled her arm through the opening, grabbed his jacket and pulled him in.

At first he seemed surprised that he was suddenly pulled in, then he was relieved that it was her and she was alright, then his face changed to that of utter confusion as he took in her appearance.

"What the hell?"

"Shhh, not so loud, don't let the others know," Vala said, worridly.

"What happened?" He had that tone in his voice, that tone that wasn't so much caring but more or less saying 'I expected this, but explain it to me so I can be completly surprised at your stupidity'.

"I was trying to get some answers from him."

"Without your clothes on?"

"Well, he was suprisingly difficult to crack, so I just thought I'd turn it up a notch," she said, lying slightly. Perhaps if she played innocent he wouldn't pick up on it.

"So ... what? You slept with him?" Daniel looked shocked and angry and Vala felt vey guilty.

"No, Daniel, of course not! There are other things you can do without your clothes on you know." He knew she was lying, she could tell. She wasn't on her game. She would have to tell him the truth.

She bit her lip as she tried not to let her eyes water up again. "OKay, I slept with him."

"Then what?" He was now very angry and she would have to tell him everything.

"I let my guard down, he ... " she stopped, touching her wrist instinctivly and quickly hiding it behind her back so he wouldn't see. For some reason she didn't want him to know about that part, he seemed to notice, she hoped she was wrong. "... he, knocked me out and stole my clothes."

a

She shugged her shoulders as though the whole thing wasn't that big a deal. But Daniel didn't seem to think so.

"Do you ever get a little voice inside your head that tells you this may be a BAD IDEA!!" He was yelling now, but it was a quite yell, obviously he respected her request to stay quite. That was something.

"What's the problem Daniel? I'm the idiot, I got what I deserved. Happy?" She pulled the sheet up a little higher as it started to slip. "Now if you don't mind I need some clothes and seeing as though I can't go outside dressed in a sheet to get some I was hoping you would be kind enough to get me some. But if it's too much trouble and you'd rather just let me sit here and think about what I've done then FINE!" She slumped onto the bed and folded her arms like an angry teenager.

She heard Daniel sigh and as she looked at him he lowered his head and tried again, a little calmer this time. "Why would anyone steal your clothes?"

"I recon, a little childish don't you think?"

"Yeah, look who's talking." It seemed he was avoiding eye contact with her. "Alright, where do I get you some clothes?"

Vala scanned the room quickly, then grinning happily she lifted up Axels' pillow and found some money hidden underneath. "He was never very good at hiding his money."

She gave the money to Daniel with instructions to buy her something flattering. He had agreed, still not looking at her. Just as he was about to leave she decided she should tell him the whole lot.

"He was my fiance," she said, sighing sadly. He stopped and turned around questioningly. "The one I told you about. Before Quetesh took me, I was engaged to be married. That was the man I was going to marry. That's the only reason I even -"

But she stopped when Daniel waved his hand at her. "It's okay," he said, actually smiling kindly now. "I think I can understand."

At least he looked at her before he left this time which made her feel a little better. Suddenly realising she was alone again, the thoughts of how foolish she was came running back to her like a bad dream. Her wrist was pounding now, it was probably just psycological, but she didn't want that thing on her anymore. Did her father even actually give it to her? Why would Axel go to all this trouble just to put it on her if it didn't do anything. What did it do? Should she tell someone, maybe Daniel? She bit her lip again as she stared at the floor, holding back any tears that still wanted to break free.

"Hey Vala. Daniel said you might want some company." Sam entered the tent, looking her over and shaking her head. "You and Cam must be kindred spirits?"

"Oh yeah, how's that?" Vala said, extremely grateful for the sudden company.

"Now your the one loosing your pants." Smiling at last Vala moved over so that Sam could join her on the bed.

** end chap 4**

AN: Next chapter, wedding invites, cough medicine, dances and discoveries. Fun fun fun!!!!


	5. Chapter 5: Weddings and Cough Syrip

Authors Note: Okay, so I know Daniel said something about his grandfather being his only family, but I figured it was his only family that might care about him, so some of Daniels family are in this chapter. Turned out very differently to how it was going to be, but I think I'm happy with it. Had worst night ever do just glad it turned out good. Makes me happy. And poor Vala, I love this chapter, especially the end. It should be noted that very large chunks are taken from and epsiode of Third Rock From The Sun, so not alot of the plot for this chapter can be taken credit as mine. So read and hope you enjoy, hopefully nice little Danny, Vala chappy for you.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own StarGate Sg-1 or its characters or anything else you recognise from the show. I do not own Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Scrubs, Gilmore Girls, Third Rock From The Sun, Dark Angel and any other TV shows that many of the quotes/lines/story concepts have been taken from.

**Friendly Links and Family Ties**

**Chapter Five: Weddings and Cough Syrip.**

It wasn't like Daniel hadn't expected any of it to happen. As soon as he stepped through the gate, that day, and saw the all to familiar site of traders, buyers, thieves, liars and leather, he knew there was going to be some drama that involved Vala. As usual, he was right.

He wasn't too angry with her, well at least not after he found out who Axel was. After he had left the tent to her hunt her down some clothes he had quietly told Sam and asked her to keep her company till he got back. He wasn't sure if she wanted the company or not, but he was certain she could use it. Once he had found her some suitable clothes (leather of course) and she was fully clothed and ready to head back to earth, he had told her the good news. Or rather, Cameron had. Unable to contain his excitement any longer he had practically shouted at her. In there haste to leave, Axel and his two thugs, Snap and Bevan, had left behind all of there belongings. Which meant the box full of weapons, the books (much to Daniel's delight, as they were quite fascinating) and, most importantly, the two ZPM's, which were, in fact, very real.

Despite their rather large collection of goodies, Daniel couldn't help but notice that Vala had been very quite. He would have thought that she of all people would have been ecstatic at having pulled a fast one on old Axel, especially concidering he did it to her first.

But Daniel also couldn't help but wonder why Axel had knocked Vala out. What was so important that he would leave behind all of his most prized items? It didn't make any sense. Knocking Vala out, making a run for it, leaving everything behind. Maybe there was something Vala hadn't told him. The thought had, of course, crossed his mind to the point where it was driving him crazy, but he didnt want to bring it up around her as she was being more quiet then was usual without his accusations. She had even been sleeping in her own appartment, on her own ... no calls, no coming around to his place for food.

After a week of it, Daniel decided to attempt to cheer his friend up. Knowing how excited she had been when he had mentioned it a while back, he decided to take her to get her drivers license. Just the mention of where they were going had made her happier then Daniel had seen her in days. But, of course, when they got there she had to make a scene. They had been waiting in line with everyone else when Vala had asked him quietly, "why is it taking so long?"

"Because we have to wait with everyone else Vala." He had pointed towards the sign at the front of the line which read, _'wait behind yellow line'_. Watching her as she took in the sign, then the yellow line, then the fact that they were all waiting behind the yellow line, he should have known that she would make a scene.

"So that line on the ground keeps everyone in check?" she had said, hardly believeing what she was saying. "Oh wait ... I get ...," he had watched her again as she looked around the room suspiciously. "There's like some, flesh eating laser that goes off when you cross, right?"

Daniel hadn't laughed, he had simply rolled his eyes at her childish imagination. Then one of the ladies in her booth had called out "Next," and as the man behind the yellow line stepped over it to approuch the lady, a very horrified cry had sounded out behind him.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Daniel had, had to stop Vala from running toward the startled man. Naturally security had been very alarmed at her shouts and had asked them to leave. All Daniel had done was give her one of his "what were you thinking!" looks as she tried to justify.

"Well, how was I supposed to know she switched the lasers off when she calls you up? Must admit Daniel, the people on your planet are alot smarter then I gave them credit for."

After that Vala had seemed a little more perky. It didn't go unnoticed to him, however, that she seemed to be fidgeting alot with her arm. Unusual, yes, he wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, or a weird habit he hadn't noticed her pick up untill now, but he doubted it. At first he thought that maybe she'd hurt it when they were off-world, as he distinctly remembered her quickly moving her arm out of his line of vision when they were in the tent. But Dr. Lam had given her a clean bill of health.

He admited he needed to sit her down and sort a few things out with her, get a few explanations, but at the moment he had a few other things to worry about. He had finally been approuched about moving his work over to Atlantis. Which meant that he could be getting his dream much sooner then he ever thought. But he was getting ahead of himself, his first concern was how he was going to get out of his obnoxious cousins' wedding.

Daniel hadn't seen his cousin in years, probably not since he was a teenager, but in the mail this morning he had recieved an invite to his wedding, with an end note saying, "would _really _love to see you there."

Personally, Daniel would rather eat rat poison then have to see his cousin again. Perhaps he could make up some excuse, work related.

With excuses running through his head, a heap of heavy books from Axel's stash under his arm and a hot cup of coffee in his free hand, Daniel made his way to his office for some peace and quiet. He half expected Cameron to be in there again, pestering him to play another game of basketball with him, or Teal'c (who had come back for the week to give them all his update on the Jaffa), eager to watch more Star Trek with him. But the room was empty. Hardly able to believe his luck Daniel made his way over to his desk, smiling to himself.

Just when he was about to place his coffee down, followed by his books, a dark-haired figure popped up from under his desk. Latching onto his coffee for dear life, his books fell to the ground with the loudest _thud _he had ever heard. Vala was looking at him, completly startled, as though she was wondering what on earth he was doing there. She had a blanket wrapped around her head as she continued to stare at him sleepily.

"What are you doing under my desk?" Daniel asked, once again trying to keep his temper in check. He was just glad that she hadn't spilt his coffee.

"Sleeping," she muttered through a yawn.

"Why?" He placed his coffee on the desk and crossed his arms.

"Why? Because the top of your desk is hard and cold." She stood up slowly, stretching as she did so. Then she reached for Daniel's coffee and took a huge sip. He quickly snatched it back off her, taking extra care not to spill any of the contents.

"You do have a bed at home, don't you?" he said bitterly as he moved the coffee well away from her wondering hands.

"Yes, but I was just trying to get in a few extra hours before I had to get started on work again." Daniel had to admit, she looked exhausted.

"You've been having trouble sleeping?" he asked, but she ignored him as she begun searching his floor for something. She surfaced after a few moments of looking, waving a piece of paper around in front of him.

"Who's Peter - and - Debbie?" she read out slowly.

Daniel snatched the paper off her as quickly as he could. "Nobody important!" he said quickly as he stuffed the invitation away in his drawer.

"So, these, people just randomly invited you to their wedding then?" She raised her eyebrows at him and he knew what would be coming next. "Can I come?"

"No!" Daniel spat out quickly, excusing the question and clearly wanting to talk about something else.

"Oh come on, Daniel. We haven't done anything fun for months. How often do you get to see old friends?" she leaned over on his desk, her blanket now down around her shoulders as she flailed around.

"He's not an old friend, he's a relative ... and if I can find away out of going then I will." She looked slightly disappointed, but he knew she wasn't going to give in that easily.

"Daniel, if he's family, you really shouldn't miss something like this. It's a very important event."

"Yes, for people that you actually like. But for someone that you don't particularly get along with, it's a pointless event and a waste of a perfectly good day." Daniel was rasing his voice now. He had to admit, voicing his thoughts about the whole invitation was helping. "Why would you want to go anyway? I'm sure you've been to hundreds of weddings before. More then half, I'm sure, would have been your own."

"But I've never been to one on earth before, Daniel. And I've been cramped up in this place for so long and then I've been moved out and we never do anything fun and this would be such an experience. Oh, and if you take me you'll know you'll have fun, I can even steal something from your relative if you'd like, just to make it clear that you weren't having a good time and -"

"ALRIGHT YOU CAN GO!" Daniel shouted, getting a headache from all of her fast talking excuses.

"I can?" she said excitedly, throwing her blanket off her shoulders and letting it fall to the floor. "Wait a minute, I can go ... but are you coming as well?" she stared at him suspiciously.

"I'm going as well Vala!" he said bluntly as he shut his eyes in frustration. She gave him a huge smile before grabbing her blanket from the floor and skipping out of his room.

He didn't know why, but he had a very bad feeling about this.

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Vala had been looking forward to nothing but Daniel's relatives' wedding for days. She was finally going to get away from work and home life and do something fun. She had always been curious as to what an Earth wedding would be like.

There was one small set back though, as the wedding day came closer and closer, she got sicker and sicker. It was nothing too serious, bit of light headedness, stuffy nose that would run, uncontrollably, every so often, puffy eyes and a sore throat. Not sure if it was a deadly Earth virus or not, she asked Teal'c, knowing for certain he wouldn't go running off to Daniel and blurting out that she was too sick to go to the wedding. There was no way she was going to let a little thing like this stop her from going.

"It seems you are suffering from the 'common cold' Vala Mal Doran," Teal'c said with a kind smile and a tilt of his head. "With rest and light medication, you should be well within a few days."

"Hmmm, a few days is no good for me. Anything they have here that can speed up the healing process?" she said, hoping that they might have had a gou'ld healing device lying around somewhere. A few days wasn't good enough for her, especially when the wedding was tomorrow.

Teal'c looked as though he was deep in thought. Then he raised his eyebrow and said, "there is something that O'Neill gave me when I was ill. I do believe it accelerated my healing process."

"What is it? And where can I get some?" Vala shouted excitedly at him.

"It is called cough syrip and I may still have some left over." Vala hugged a very taken a back Teal'c after he promised to deliver the medication to her before the wedding tomorrow.

When Vala got back to her place she was so excited she picked out her outfit straight away. Sam had noticed Vala's excitement and had leant her several dresses, shoes and bags to pick from, the day before. Vala was very grateful as most of her things were in the process of still being unpacked.

She was just deciding how she should wear her hair so you could still see her earings when she was hit by a sudden dizzy spell. Leaning on her bed post to regain her balance, Vala took a few quick breaths in attept to recover. This was very unusual, she was never sick. Even when everyone else around her had become sick, she had always remained the healthy one. She didn't like being sick, but she assured herself that with an early nights sleep she would feal terrfic. So ignoring the queasy fealing in her stomache, she took out the red pen that was on her desk and marked the last day off her calender. The next day was circled and labelled 'Wedding date with Daniel'.

Sam picked Vala up in the morning to take her to work. Despite her excitement, she was a little concerned. She had not felt better in the morning like she had hopped, she felt even worse. Her head was spinning and she had spent half the morning with her head in the toilet. Not wanting Sam to pick up on this she simply put on a brave face, remembering that she would only have to put up with work for 8 hours before she got to go to the wedding.

As soon as she arrived at the SGC, Vala quickly located Teal'c. As promised, Teal'c had a large bottle, full of cough syrip. She took it from him gratefully as her head gave another violent spin and she clutched at the nearest table for support. She felt Teal'c grab her roughly, trying to hold her up.

"Are you alright Vala Mal Doran?" he asked concerned.

The dizziness left as quickly as it had washed over her and she brushed him off with a smile and a shrug. Teal'c let go, just as Daniel entered the hallway they were in. Vala, not wanting him to see her looking a little under the weather, quickly hid the medicine bottle behind her back and sprung back into her cheery self.

"Mornin' Vala," he said casually, noticing her bouncing around and rolling his eyes.

"GOOD morning Daniel," she chimmed happily. "I'm fine thanks, terrific, never felt better. How are you?"

Daniel looked at her suspiciously. "Right ... well, about tonight." She nodded enthusiastically. "Pick you up, round 7? That alright?"

"Fantastic, terrific, good time, you pick it out yourself?" she was still smiling cheekily at him as he shook his head and passed them by. Vala was pleased he hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary. Satisfied that he was far out of site, she took a swig of the cough syrip, that was still concealed behind her back.

"This is _great_," she said, turning to Teal'c and waving the bottle around as she took another big sip.

"Indeed," Teal'c replied, a knowing smile spreading across his face as he nodded in agreement.

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Daniel had not been looking forward to the wedding. He couldn't understand how Vala could be so excited, she clearly had never sat through as many as he had. Even Sam seemed to have caught on with Vala's enthusiasm, she took it upon herself to remind Daniel what time it was and what to wear and to be nice and to take a gift. He was starting to think that maybe he should have let her go in his place.

He had expected to be waiting for hours when he pulled up out the front of Vala's appartment block, but she was already waiting there for him. He had to admit, she did look very nice. Wearing a short blue dress and her hair out and curly, Daniel was suddenly glad that she was going with him. The company for one, but it always looked good to have an attractive date, especially when you were going to see a whole heap of relatives who always like to point out how much better they are then you.

Vala jumped into the car quickly, unable to take the smile off her face. Daniel merely shook his head, still not able to understand her excitement.

"Come on Daniel, you've got to admit this is a little exciting," she said, trying to lift his spirits.

"Just wait till we get there," he said, sighing loudly. "When it's all over, you try telling me you actually had a good time."

The car trip felt a lot longer then it should have, especially when Vala kept flicking the radio station over till she found a song she liked. Daniel gave up trying to change it back until she found 'Sexy Back' playing and was beging him to sing along. He quickly changed the station shortly after her rather loud sing-along to the line 'I'll let you whip me if I misbehave".

They arrived early, too early. Everyone was standing outside the church in groups, discussing family matters that Daniel really didn't want to concern himself with. He found himself hurrying Vala along to the church so they could just get inside and sit down before anyone tried to talk to him.

"DANNY!!!!!!!!!! OH MY GOSH!!!! Betty!! Sandra!!! Look, it's little Danny!" Daniel stopped dead in his tracks as Vala turned around curiously.

"Aunt Linda," Daniel said, trying to force a smile. The one person Daniel would have loved to avoid had found him. Daniel's Aunt was a very obnoxious, very large women, who always had, for as long as he could remember, a glass of champagne in her hand. She was his sister's half-sister, so not a full Aunt, who had probably not seen him since his parents funeral.

"Look at you ..." Linda said, looking him up and down. "You're _gorgeous_!"

She was quickly joined by her two best friends who, apart from the glass of champagne, were the only other things he remembered his Aunt never being without. Betty was as large as Linda and spoke whatever was on her mind, whilst Sandra was a stick thin chain smoker who tended just to stand back and let the others do their thing.

"Oh you grew up well!" Betty added. Moving closer she reached out and gave Daniel's arm a squeeze. Her eyes widened as she gave a very approving, "Uh-huh!"

"And who is this _absolute _stunner?" Linda gestured towards Vala. One look in her direction and Daniel could tell she was very much enjoying this.

"Vala Mal Doran," Vala said, shaking the fat little hands that were shoved at her.

"So you're finally married then!" Linda said. It wasn't a question, it was a statement. Daniel opened his mouth to correct her, but Vala grabbed his arm.

"For three years now," she smiled up at him and all Daniel could do was roll his eyes.

"HOW WONDERFUL!!!!!!" Betty squeeled in utter joy.

"Are you harrasing my nephew, Betty?" Daniel spun his head around towards the newcomer. A tall, stately looking man was making his way towards them. This was most definitely the last person Daniel wanted to see. Uncle Wayne, his mothers brother. He was the kind of man that never liked Daniel's father, what was worse, after his mother died, Wayne blamed Daniel's father for dragging her into the whole archeology career which ended up getting her killed. Of course, his father wasn't alive to take the accusations so Daniel had to sit and listen to his Uncle tell him how selfish his father had been.

Betty stuck her nose up and quickly hurried away with Linda and Sandra, who had now lit up a cigarette.

"I never liked that women," Wayne said as he approuched Daniel. He was unpleased to note that his Uncle still towered above him in height. "How you been Daniel? Haven't seen you in years."

"I've been good, real good," Daniel said.

"Great and who's this then?" Wayne asked, turning, as the others did, towards Vala. Vala introduced herself and it didn't go unnoticed by Daniel that he was checking her out with a grin.

"You've done well for yourself then Danny Boy," his Uncle said, giving Vala another once over. Vala looked at Daniel with a raised eyebrow, it was comforting to know that after only knowing him for a few minutes, he could tell that Vala already felt the same way about this man as he did. He hated him. "I must admit, I didn't expect this much from a washed up archaelogist."

Daniel didn't say anything as his Uncle just laughed cruely. It was true, some of his past assumptions had been a little far-fetched, but they have all now been proven to be very true. It was just a shame he wasn't allowed to tell anyone that.

"Excuse me?" Daniel turned to look at Vala who had just spoken up. "What do you mean _washed up_?"

"Vala, it's alright," Daniel said.

"No Daniel, this man should be thanking you for saving his and everyone elses' life on this planet," Vala said angrily in an undertone. She made to open her mouth again, this time directed at Wayne, but Daniel quickly excused the both of them, from a still chuckling Wayne, and dragged her away.

"What did you do that for? That man was a poor excuse for family and you should have told him that you're out there every day risking your life just to save ungrateful people like him."

"Now do you see why I don't like coming to these family things?" he asked. He wasn't bothered by what his Uncle had said, he always expected it. But what was better, was having someone like Vala there to remind him that what he was doing wasn't pointless and that now, he is something more then just a simple archeologist with wild theories.

Despite Daniel's best efforts to avoid everyone, he couldn't help but be dragged into every group that they passed. Vala was clearly enjoying every minute, meeting all his old friends and nearly all of his so called family and being dragged around inbetween by him wanting to avoid certain people. Even though she was quite cheery when they first arrived, Daniel noticed her getting slower and she even stumbled once when they were just about to enter the church.

"I just have to quickly use the bathroom," she said as she ducked off towards the girls toilets. Daniel saw her get something out of her bag hurridly as she disappeared behind the door.

When she rejoined him several minutes later, the ceremony was about to begin and he was seated, waiting for her. She flopped down in the seat next to him looking far more perky then she had before she left.

"You OKay?" he asked as she looked at him wide-eyed.

"Fine Daniel, never been better," she said quickly and loudly. He let it go for now, but she was definatly acting odd.

By the time the wedding had started, Daniel was so over the whole thing he felt like walking out and going home. Half way through Vala got up to go for another toilet break and he was forced to smile awkwardly at the lady she had nearly knocked over on her way there. When she came back she was very restless. Daniel was beginning to wonder if he gave her too much champagne. They had only had a few glasses, and living off moon shine he doubted it would have any effect on her.

"So ... Daniel ... who makes up these vowels?"

Daniel kept his eyes to the front but whispered an answer. "Some people write them themselves, other times they can just pick some from a list."

"So ... did they write theirs'?" The lady next to Vala put her finger to her mouth and gave a small "Shh!"

Vala looked stunned. She copyed the gesture and made the same noise, "Shhhhh!"

"SHH!" The lady repeated, a little more persistant.

"SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Vala did this last one so loud that Daniel couldn't help but stare at her. She giggled to herself as though it was all hilarius. Daniel was about to say something, something along the lines of how it was inappropriate to talk during weddings, but he realised that for now, he simply didn't care. All he really wanted to do was go back to the SGC and work on some translations, this really wasn't his scene.

"So ... Daniel ... how did these two find each other?" Daniel looked at his spoilt cousin at the altar.

"Well, basically," he thought for a moment. "It was fate. He's rich and she wanted lots of money so she could sit on her arse." Vala looked surprised but smiled fondly at his answer. "I give it a year," he added, keeping the joke.

Vala began to mock cry loudly, making several people turn to look. "That's so beautiful!" she said, still fake crying. "Look at them, they belong together. Do you think they have any idea how ugly their children will be?"

Despite himself, Daniel let out a small laugh. It wasn't loud, but loud enough for the lady next to Vala to go off.

"SHHH!" she said, turning to stare at him.

"Oh you shoosh!!!" Daniel snapped back. Vala, clearly enjoying the whole thing, looked at both of them utterly appalled.

"SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" she said.

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Daniel was hoping to skip out on the recepetion, not wanting to stick around any longer. When they left the wedding they received dirty looks from everyone around them for making such a scene and Vala was behaving so unusually that Daniel wanted to take her home as soon as possible.

After another trip to the toilet by Vala, the two of them sat at a table.

"Well that was _fantastic _fun Daniel, arn't you glad you brought me with you?" she grinned at him and he sighed loudly. "It's actually not that different from the weddings I've seen. Only, what was with that little girl throwing away flowers? I mean, what was _her _problem?"

"Let's go," Daniel said as he watched Vala flick ice cubes across the room at his Uncle Wayne. He made to stand.

"You're not leaving are you?" his Aunt Linda asked as she got up to dance with some poor boy who looked about half her age.

"No," Daniel said, sitting down again. He didn't want to leave and for her to cause a fuss. Looked like he was never going to get out of this place. He crossed his arms like an angry child. Turning to ask Vala what he suggested they do he saw her with her head resting against her hand, eyes closed. "Vala? You alright?"

Her eyes sprung open and she came back to life again as she shook off his question. "Fine Daniel, never better."

"Well, I'm not, lets go." He got up again, seeing that there were no pesky aunts in site and made to leave.

"Ohhhh, Daniel ... wait!" Vala called out. Daniel turned to see her stopped dead. She was pointing towards the dance floor. "Just one dance. Please!"

He would have just grabbed her and left, he wasn't much of a dancer, but she was looking at him as though it would mean everything to her. He supposed he owed it to her, the night wasn't nearly as lousy as it could have been if she wasn't there.

"Just one!" he said, regretting it already.

He was an awkward dancer, always had been, but she was good and she led him, as she always seemed to do in any situation. It wasn't a slow dance, but it was still nice. Passing him as she danced with the young boy, his Aunt commented on how lovely they looked. Vala's smile was so full that Daniel would usually have stopped just so she couldn't have that satisfaction, but he let her have this one.

Vala's smile soon fadded though as she stumbled slightly. It was hard for him not to notice as she was so close that she fell into him as she did so. He didn't bother asking her if she was okay this time, she had been acting up all night, he reached out a hand to her forehead and felt her temperature. There was no denying, she was red hot.

"Vala, you're burning up! I'm taking you home." Despite her protests he helped her out into the car and headed back to his place. The whole trip back she slept and Daniel had to admit he was very concerned. How long had she been sick for? He took her back to his place, it was closer and at least that way he could keep an eye on her, save himself from worrying.

"Hmm, you have a lovely place," she said as they entered, even though she'd been there several times before. She made to sit on the lounge but fell flat on her butt as she missjudged where the end was and missed.

"You alright?" he said as he watched her groggily try and stand again. She brushed his hand away and finally stood. Daniel just sighed. "Why didn't you tell me you were sick?"

"Daniel," she said, rather dramatically. "I'm sick!" And with that she moved towards his lounge and collapsed onto it with a heavy sigh.

"Do you realise how dangerous that was, going out when you're like this," Daniel kneeled down beside her as she struggled to keep her eyes open.

"But I took medication," she pointed towards her bag. Daniel, taking this as an indication to look through it did so cautiously. Resting on the top was a bottle of cough syrip.

"Vala this stuff is for common colds, I don't think that's what you hav -" but before he could finish he realised that the bottle was completly empty. "Did you drink this whole bottle? Oh you need to lie down."

She giggled at him, "I am lying down, silly." He didn't laugh back, this was very careless of her, what if it had been something more crutial. "Daniel, please ... I might not make it through the night," Vala began, reaching for his hand. "I just have to tell you ... I'm an alien from another planet ... and, I just have to tell you that because I love you!"

With those last words Vala closed her eyes. A little concerned Daniel made sure she was still breathing. Satisfied that she was alive and mearly sleeping, he moved one of the lounge pillows under her head and pushed her hair out of her face. "Whatever you say," he said, shaking his head and smiling despite himself at the whole evening. One thing was for sure, she certainly did know how to make it an interesting night.

**end chap 5**

AN: Next chapter (although will probably change), ATM cards, Dannys new girl, and off-world trip and planes and road trips and a dodgy bar.


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